Protecting Pitcairn's marine bounty

Swimming with sharks – Divers found abundant populations of grey sharks and reef sharks in the pristine coral reef of Ducie atoll.

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Underwater treasures – The waters surrounding the Pitcairn Islands in the South Pacific contain an abundant variety of marine life.

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Lemonpeel Angelfish – A new survey of the health of the waters that surround the four islands (Pitcairn, Henderson, Oeno and Ducie) has revealed a "unique and pristine" marine ecosystem.

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Diving in pure waters – A team of scientists led by marine ecologist Enric Sala identified over 250 varieties of fish during the expedition earlier this year.

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Teeming with life – The expedition was organized by the Pew Environment Group in association with the National Geographic Society.

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Pitcairn's Bounty Bay – Pitcairn is the only island of the four which is populated. Currently, it has 55 inhabitants, some of whom descend from the mutineers of HMS Bounty who settled the island in 1790.

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Henderson Island – Henderson Island is a UNESCO World Heritage site which the United Nations says has 10 species of plant and four land birds which are endemic to the island.

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Oeno Island – Oeno Island lies 128 kilometers (80 miles) North north-west of Pitcairn, and (along with Ducie, the fourth island in the Pitcairn group) is one of the most southerly coral atolls in the world.

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Preserving the ecosystem – The Pew Environment Group are calling on the British government to turn the waters surrounding the Pitcairn Islands into a vast marine reserve.

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Protecting against human impacts – "These places allow us to know what the ocean was like before heavy human impacts ... and most important, to set proper conservation and management goals for our oceans," according the expedition report.

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Pristine environment – "There are only a handful of Exclusive Economic Zones of the world that remain pristine occupying less than 5% of the ocean," the expedition report adds.

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Fishing to extinction? – Josh Reichert, managing director of the Pew Environment Group said: "Unless we change our relationship with the sea, we will inevitably bear witness to its collapse," Reichert said.

A team of scientists led by marine ecologist Enric Sala completed more than 450 dives at 97 locations earlier this year as well as lowering cameras down to depths of 1,600 meters in a further 17 spots.

Along with more than 250 species of fish, 70 species of coral and more than 60 varieties of algae were observed around the four islands (Pitcairn, Henderson, Oeno and Ducie) that make up the British Overseas Territory.

To date, nearly 1,250 marine species (including seabirds) have been found in the area, but scientists believe many more remain undiscovered.

Given its "unique and pristine" environment, the expedition report recommends turning the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) -- an area extending 200 nautical miles from a territory's coast -- around Pitcairn into a "no-take" marine reserve.

"There are only a handful of EEZs of the world that remain pristine occupying less than 5% of the ocean," the report says.

"These places allow us to know what the ocean was like before heavy human impacts ... and most important, to set proper conservation and management goals for our oceans."

Should the UK government back the plan, the reserve would become the largest of its kind in the world, covering an area of more than 800,000 square kilometers (300,000 square miles), according to the Pew Environment Group.

The proposals have received the enthusiastic backing of the Pitcairn islanders, whose tiny population includes a direct descendant of Fletcher Christian -- leader of the mutineers on HMS Bounty who settled on the island in 1790.